Capsule filling device



S. KAROS CAPSULE FILLING DEVICE June 8, 1954 Filed Sept. 12, 1952 2Sheets-Sheet l c es' 4/ 42 43 June 8, 1954 s. KARos 2,680,548 'CAPSULEFILLING DEVICE Filed Sept. l2, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 8,1954 UNITED STATES PATENTv OFFICE 2,680,548 CAPSULE FILLING DEVICE SamKaros, Detroit, Mich.

Application. September 12, 1952, Serial No.

2 Claims. (Cl. 226-41) The present invention covers capsule filling suchas drugs or sedatives.

It is an object of this invention to provide and wherein if groups 0Icapsules of different sizes are desi-red to be simultaneously iiifled, a

F segregated capsulev re- Still another tion is to provide an improveddevice of this character with novel conveniently operable means forreleasably locking or holding the vertically 2 Figure 2 is a side view,partly the device, Figure 3 device along is a vertical sectional View ofthe the line 3-3 of Fig. 1,

of the is a Vertical sectional view of the device, similar to Fig. 4,but showing the device in capsule ejecting position,

Figure 6 is of the movable plate shown in Fig. l, and

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 'l`l of Fig. 6'.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, Figs. 1to 5 inclusive, the device spaced relationship to The bottom, or capsuleejector plate plate by means of the orner posts lil, of which Springs l5yieldably Il upwardly against the heads f6 of The upper surface of platel I is divided into a. plurality of sections by means disposed walls orpartitions l 7. It will bev seen, Fig. l, that theser Walls with theother as to able number of apertures i@ therethrough.

The diametrical dimensions of the apertures in each section arey uniformone with the other but that they may diiier from those of each of theother sections, as shown in Figs. l through 5 of the drawings. Howeverthe apertures in the group of sections A, B, C, which sections din-erfrom eaehother as to number of apertures, are of the samesize. but theydiiier in size from the apertures in the group of sections D, E and F,the apertures in these two groups ci sections dn er in size from theapertures in the group of sections G, H, and In each group the differentIt isobvious that each section might differV `from every other sectionas to diameter of apertures if such was desired. The-apertures oi eachgroup or section are, of course, adapted to receivev and hold onlythosev cup portions of capsules which in section, of

are adapted to fit into that groups apertures. These cup portions,designated I9, Fig. 3, are inserted in said apertures so that theopenings thereto are flush with the floor of the capsule lling controlplate li. Consequently the operator when lling capsules in a certainsection or sections with selected medicated powders or granules mayscrape along the floor of each section so as to evenly and adequatelydistribute the filler into the several cups of each section and thewalls l1 enable him to confine his activities in the foregoing respectsto the specific area within the boundaries of each sections walls. Itwill, therefore, be understood that with my sectionalized filler cupplate that the operator can utilize one or more sections for iilling allits cups with a particular filler while at time using one or more of theother sections for other ingredients without danger of mixing suchingredients.

Upon the filling of the cups aforesaid, the next step in the sequence ofoperations of my machine is to secure a closure cap 2i! to each of theaforesaid filled cups. rhe final step is to simultaneously eject all ofthe capsules from the plate. To expedite and eiiciently eiect theseoperations, provide a biiurcated operational control lever 2 l, each arm2?; of which is pivoted intermediate its ends, by means of a pin 23 to abracket Es, one each of which sides of the plate ii. Each of said arms,starting at a point approximately in the vicinity of the pivot pins 23and extending to the cuter or free end ci each arm, is disposed inangular relationship with the inner portion of each arm and extends in adiagonal direction toward and adjacent to the opposite sides of ejectorplate il). A slot 25 is provided adjacent the extreme end of each arm22. Pins 2S, secured in the opposed sides of plate it, engage each ofsaid slots to unitedly act as a ulcrum for the lever 2l. Thus it will beseen that when the lever 2 l, which is provided with the handle or knob2l is pushed downwardly, as shown in Fig. 4, the pivoted connection tosaid lever and plate il will cause the latter to be lowered toward thecapsule cup ejector pins 2B disposed in the plate lil, whereupon thelower ends of the cups i9, contacting the upper surfaces of pins 23 willforce said cups upwardly in the plate l i a distance sucient to enablethe closure caps i9 to be secured to said cups.

Upon completion of the capping operation aforesaid, further downwardmovement oi the lever 2l will cause the pins 28 to force the filledcapsules to expelled position relative to the filler plate li.

In the actuation of the control lever iii, it is necessary only to latchor hold the plate li during the capping operation aforesaid. This is sobecause when plate il is in its full upward or capsule *filling position(Fig. 2) the springs i5 definitely maintain it in that position, andwhen the plate is manually urged by the lever 2l to its lowerrnost orcapsule ejectmg position (Fig. it is necessary only to momentarily holdit in that position until the capsules have been cleared from the plate.Therefore, to effectively hold the plate in the central or cappingposition a spring, which may be in the form of a flexible metallicmember 29, is secured at one end to the rearward portion of thestationary plate l@ and extends arcuately upward so that itsintermediate portion abuts and presses against the inner face of thetransverse portion of lever 2l adjacent the knob 21. An elongated slot30 is provided in member the same 29 into which the inwardly extendingpin portion 3l of knob 2l projects for releasable latching engagementtherewith of the lever 2l during said capping operation.

In the modification of the invention illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7, Ihave shown a capsule lling control plate only and it is to be understoodthat this plate is adapted to be used with an ejector or base plate thatis identical in every respect with the base plate lil shown in theheretofore described embodiment of the invention. Like its predecessorthis modified capsule filling control plate 32 is positioned verticallyabove a base plate that is identical with the base plate ill. Plate 32,like plate is, is guided by posts 33 and is held in yielding engagementagainst the heads 341 of said posts by springs 35. Plate 32, however, isprovided with a plurality of apertures 35 therethrough, the diametricaldimensions of which are uniformly of maximum width to receivetherethrough capsules of the greatest capacity. For purposes of clarityin the further description of this modification this plate 32 shall bereferred to as the main plate or seat portion of the plate as it is onlya part of a composite plate subsequently to be described.

The ends and one side portion of said plate 32 are provided with anupstanding flange or rim 31 which is undercut in its inner face toprovide a pair of opposed slideways or tracks 38 and 39 that extendtransversely from the iront face thereof and terminate at the innerjunctures of the side portion of the rim with the end portions thereof.Each of the aforesaid tracks is adapted to receive, for slidableengagement therein a ange is that is formed to project laterally fromthe side of a supplemental capsule filling control plate or slide 4i.

ri'his supplemental plate may have a plurality of apertures ll2therethrough of uniform diameters but of less width than those of theseat plate 32; or, the supplemental slide plate di may be sectionalizedin a manner similar to that heretofore described with respect to thesections conned by the walls l, and wherein the apertures of thedifferent groups of each section not only vary in size from those of theadjacent sectional groups but again are of width less than those of themain plate. In Figs. 6 and 'i similar walls 53 are illustrated on thesupplemental plate 4| for confining the apertures l2 therebetween.

Any one of a number of supplemental plates 39 may be employed with plate32 in order that capsules of any required capacities may be filled. Thusa plate il having two or three sections the apertures l2 of each ofwhich will accommodate capsule cups corresponding to the sizes of suchapertures, another plate may have two, three or more sections theapertures of each of which are adapted to receive cups oi stilldifferent capacities, and so on. Consequently a complete set ofsupplemental plates for carrying out quantity production of capsulefilling operations are provided to speedily and efiiciently fill any andall sizes of capsules, which are commercially available.

t will be understood that in the use of my supplemental plates il andtheir slidable insertion into the main plate 32, so as to form therewitha composite plate, each aperture in the supplemental plate lll willaxially overlie an aperture disposed in the main plate 32. Thus whateverthe diametrical dimensions are of the apertures in the supplementalplate they will always be ir positive axial alignment with the relatedapertures of the main plate, provided that the former control plate frommovement relative to the plate is pushed all the Way back into theslideejector plate.

larger aperture 36 of the main or seat plate 32 so l0 plate away fromthe stationary plate, upwardly that the pms 28 may contact same, uponmanipuprojecting Walls provided on the upper face of the lation of lever2| as aforesaid, and force the capcontrol plate defining the sectlonsthereof each sules rst upwardly for filling and then expel section beingprovided with a plurality of spaced them out of the composite platecup-receiving and supporting perforations differ- What I claim is: 15ing in diameter from those of each other section,

1. A capsule filling machine comprising, in a lever pivotally connectedto each of said plates combination, a statlonary plate having apluralfor moving the control plate toward the eJector rst mentionedplate for relative vertical move- 20 releasably retain it and hold thecontrol plate References Cited in the file of this patent plate deningthetsectiorlis tllifreof, each section 25 UNITED STATES PATENTS beingprovided Wi h a p urai y of spaced cupreceiving and supportingperforations dilering in Numbe B tName Datel 9 diameter from those ofeach otherv section, a galg lhafeson Mar' ggg lever pivotally connectedto each of said plates gogmk.) Wtqlgh--f JalB 1905 for moving thecontrol plate toward the ejector 30 d .me es er OC l 1 plate, and aspring latch operable on movement 137126 Rlttenbry Mar 15 1921

